Tag: Trump policing executive order

‘Is this a joke?’ Ex-White House ethics lawyer slams Trump campaign’s offer to let supporters ‘co-sign’ Trump’s police order for money

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that places modest restrictions on police chokeholds, calls for improved training requirements, aims to track problem officers when they change jobs to avoid punishment, and urges local governments to pair police with social workers when responding to certain types of calls.

The president lost no time in trying to monetize his new policy, telling supporters in a fundraising email that they have “the unique opportunity to co-sign President Trump’s executive order.”

This fundraising pitch outraged former White House ethics counsel Richard Painter, who weighed in on Twitter: Continue reading.

Republicans Signal Narrow Policing Overhaul as Trump Signs Limited Order

New York Times logoRepublicans denounced a sweeping Democratic law enforcement overhaul as an overreach and President Trump signed an order that omitted mention of racism or discrimination in policing.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans signaled on Tuesday that they were coalescing around a narrow set of law enforcement reforms as President Trump signed an executive order to encourage — but not mandate — that police departments alter their behavior, setting up an election-year clash with Democrats who are pushing for sweeping changes to address systemic racism in policing.

On Capitol Hill and at the White House, the moves by Republicans suggested that despite nationwide protests against police brutality and growing public sentiment for overhauling law enforcement, they were unwilling to accept the far-reaching federal measures that Democrats had proposed to make it easier to track and prosecute police misconduct, change standards for using force and institute anti-bias requirements across the country.

“The House version is going nowhere in the Senate,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader. “It’s basically typical Democratic overreach to try to control everything in Washington.” Continue reading.

Trump’s answer to nationwide protests: Police-friendly reforms

The president’s executive order, set to be unveiled Tuesday, is designed to spur local reforms while drawing contrasts with liberal activists.

President Donald Trump hopes to acknowledge a nationwide uproar over police brutality while preventing rifts with police and other law enforcement groups integral to his political future.

With an executive order set to be unveiled at a White House event on Tuesday, the president is expected to lay out the case for the creation of a national database of police misconduct, so officers with a history of overly aggressive behavior cannot simply move to another department or state to escape scrutiny, according to a senior administration official. The order will also urge social workers and mental health professionals to work more closely alongside frontline officers. Finally, it will offer guidelines for new training and credentialing for police officers on de-escalating tense situations, and the best times to use force, according to the senior administration official, who said the goal of the order was not to demonize police officers.

The White House’s latest move, following weeks of protests in communities across the nation, has been crafted in close consultation with police officers, mayors, conservative African Americans, faith-based leaders and the families of victims, according to people familiar with the planning. Maintaining the political support of police — and appearing like a law-and-order president — has been a leading imperative for Trump’s top aides and political advisers as some liberal activists push to defund police departments and divert money to community programs. Continue reading.